Park2Park Relay, Part IV: Running on empty ... or fumes

It was so hot on Saturday, the National Weather Service issued a Flash Sweat Warning for runners in the second annual Hendricks Count Park2Park Relay! (bah-dum-pah).

One-liners aside, it really was hot on Saturday. So why was one of the 278 runners participating in this event wearing a cow costume (well, OK, not the head piece, but definitely the full torso)? I guess because he wanted to. I came across cow-bedecked Brett Nabb, a member of Team Six Pack, about midway through one of his legs of the race and asked how he was doing, and Nabb said, "Not too good." A real trooper.

Team Six Pack definitely was making a fashion statement. Teammate Mary Nabb (no doubt a relation to Brett, but not sure what) wore a different outfit for each of her turns on the course. And each of the outfits was distinguished by bright colors and punctuated with shades and bright red lipstick. When I first saw her at the exchange point at Hendricks Regional Hospital, she wore a hot pink headband and a pastel pink shirt emblazoned with the boast, "Princesses Don't Finish Last." For the last leg of the race, the one ending in McCloud Nature Park, she was outfitted in a bright purple and black tiger-stripe-pattern top; a fluffy and sparkly solid-purple-colored skirt and a reddish-purple headband.

Getting past the fashion wear, I found that some of my favorite pictures while going through the collection were shots on the road that zeroed in on a runner close to me when, behind them a ways, there were either other runners or a vehicle approaching to provide secondary elements to the composition. And then there was the shot leading off this post -- two runners choosing opposite sides of the road to cover their terrain (I didn't see too much of that) -- with a car in the distance, just creeping over the first of two undulations in the road. That's team Hall Render A's Mark Garsombke on the left, team 10-Mile Tape Worms' Justin Hochstetler on the right.

Stuff like this made watching and photographing the Park2Park a fun time for the second year in a row. I hope you enjoy the other pictures -- and some of the "stories" behind them -- from the course here as well.

Tomorrow, I'll present the non-race photographs I managed to get during lulls along the course. There was some nice ones, so do come back.

Above and below: At one moment (above) along a double curve portion of Vestal Road north of Plainfield, Jared Burris of the men's division-winning North Salem State Bank 2 team was alone on the course. But by the time he reached the curve you see ahead of him above, a convoy of Harley-Davidson riders (below), headed in the opposite direction, were driving past him, headed to Indy West Harley-Davidson in Plainfield for the 10 a.m. start of the Ride for the Salute to Military Families. If you click on the bottom picture, you can see Burris' red shorts just in front of one of the riders in the background.

Above: This is Burris just a little farther along in the course. 

Above and below: A member of the team P-town Warriors looked game-serious as I snapped the shot above from the side of the road, as four runners in the distance kept her within their sight. After taking this shot, I moved quickly to her left, when she broke into the expression below. 

Above: Angelia Kniesly, one of the runners behind Munger in the wider picture above, was always willing to offer a smile when I came across her on the course this year and last. She and her Team Tenacious teammates ran the ceremonial short loop off the start line in Sodalis Nature Park together, as did several full teams, and when I camped briefly at the rust-colored steel bridge in McCloud Nature Park, Angelia was running side by side with her team's last-leg runner, Michael Sapper. Clearly, she loves to run.

Above: One change in procedure that race organizers made in this year's event was to not require runners to carry and hand a baton to teammates at the exchange points. Instead, a team's runner finishing a leg merely had to hand-tag the runner beginning the next leg, as illustrated above by team Hcxc2 runners Claire Hinshaw (left) and Mackenzie Dye at the exchange station starting Leg 10 on Hendricks County Road 250 North, just east of County Road 100 East. Dye's leg of the race would end 3.67 miles later at Hendricks Regional Hospital in Danville. 

Above: A wide view of the beehive-like activity at an exchange station out in the country. This was the station at County Road 250 North, starting Leg 10.

Above and below: In yesterday's post, you met Logan Kuhne (right) of team 5 More Muffin Men and an Old Guy, who was interviewed by WCBK radio's Randall Wayne for a live remote broadcast from Sodalis Nature Park, the Park2Park's start point this year. Above, at the exchange station to start Leg 10, Kuhne had jogged out to meet his Leg 9 runner, Ichiro Mozawa (left), and accompanied Mozawa for the short jog to the switch point, where Mozawa yielded to teammate Nate Secrest (foreground, below). Kuhne yells words of encouragement to Secrest, as the latter began Leg 10 en route to Hendricks Regional Hospital.

Above: Heather Cox of ARC Design and Bob Hicks of team Hall Render B out on a rural section of the course.

Above: Allison Zimmerman (left) of team O Runner, Where Are Thou and Anna Eschbach of the Danville Dream Team strode side by side, embracing the popular notion that having a companion alongside makes the time go faster.

Above and next two below: Above is Brett Nabb, the first time I came across him, on Leg 10 heading to Hendricks Regional Hospital. Not too long afterward (first photo below), I arrived at the hospital relay station, and photographed him just about 50 meters from the end of the leg. Not long after that, he stripped off the cow veneer and understandably helped himself to a refreshing shower of cold bottled water.

Above: Mary Nabb, wearing the "Princesses Never Finish Last" T-shirt, takes over for Brett and begins Leg 11 for Team Six Pack.

Above: On the long jog to the Hendricks Regional Hospital parking lot exchange station, runners finishing Leg 10, like the runner in yellow above, and those starting Leg 11, like the shirtless runner, would cross paths.

Above: I used the Danville and hospital water tower as a backdrop for a runner using a transformer box as a place to stretch at the hospital.

Above: Team Post-Fontaine's Crystal Alley approaches the hospital relay station.

Above: These are volunteers staffing the exchange station that started Leg 15 on County Road 650 North, just west of County Road 200 West. Runners starting here would finish in North Salem, 1.86 miles later, the shortest leg on the course.

Above: Mary Nabb, at McCloud Nature Park, in her final leg fashion.

Above: Angelia Kniesly again, accompanying Team Tenacious' teammate-of-record for the final leg, Michael Sapper, as they round the corner of a gravel portion of the course right before crossing the rust-colored steel bridge.

Above: I remembered Joe Mulholland, of team Saint Susanna/Against the Wind, from last year's race because every time I came across him both last year and the only time I ran into him this year -- running this last leg at McCloud -- he would give up a warm smile. It helped make being out there on the course a little more fun for me seeing that the runners also were having fun.

Above and below: In McCloud Nature Park, Team Shut Up & Squat members (from left) Kattie Fleece, Amber Peacock and Emmy Hites could afford to be relaxed; this thing was over for them because they weren't their team's official runner of record for this leg. Not to worry, though. Passing this very point only a few moments earlier (below) were the team's runner of record, Michael Purichia (left), accompanied by another teammate, Lewis Hites.

Above: I didn't spend much time photographing runners on the bridge this year because the mid-day sunlight didn't do for those shots nearly what the dramatic, early-morning light did for them last year when McCloud was the start point for the Park2Park. Here's one I did take, of team Marathon Mamas' Brittany Meyers. The bridge comes up about a quarter of the way into the 3.1 miles of the last leg in McCloud.

Above: After crossing the bridge in McCloud, runners turn south, run to the park's southernmost border and make a hairpin turn to double back to this point, which is just east of the bridge and about three-quarters of a mile to a mile later in the route. Runners have about 2 miles to go after reaching here. This is Danville Dream Team's Kameron Baker; behind him in the distance is Mulholland, pictured above shortly before crossing the bridge.

Above: A lot of runners joke that when they enter and participate in an organized event like the Park2Park, their main objective is to not finish last. I've done it. When you run an ultramarathon course -- 52 miles all by yourself -- there is no shame in finishing last. Indeed, it is quite the accomplishment to merely finish. That was the joy expressed on the face of ultramarathoner Dick Whicker (left) at the end of his journey at McCloud Nature Park in a time of 12 hours, 39.01 minutes. Although Whicker, who was race director for the inaugural Park2Park last year, was the last runner in any of the competitions to cross the finish line, he did so only 5 minutes behind fellow ultramarathoner Jonathan Nolan (right), who finished fourth of six ultras in 12:34.13. Finishing between Nolan and Whicker was Abe Garcia, whose time was 12:35.06.

Park2Park Relay, Part III: Dawn, daylong relay breaks at Sodalis

Dawn broke and the sun rose at 6:15 a.m. Saturday at Sodalis Nature Park, and 3 hours and 15 minutes later, the Hendricks County Park2Park Relay had finally ushered through the last wave of starters from Sodalis in the cross-country team relay competition.

In the last week or so before race day, race organizers decided to stagger the starts in 15-minute intervals, sending off first those teams who expected to need the most time on the course and saving the faster teams for later. The thinking was to try and get everyone to arrive -- 64.5 miles later -- at the terminus, McCloud Nature Park, at about the same time.

So I was able to photograph all the starts, and in the process, got to witness the beautiful sunlight transition, from dawn to sunrise to early morning, at Sodalis. It made for a memorable experience.

Sodalis formally opened only about a month before last year's inaugural Park2Park Relay. I made my first visit to the park June 3, 2011, about three weeks before the start of the first race. I spent that day driving as much of the full course as I could find and access so I knew what I and fellow photographers from the Indy Meetup Photo Club would be up against ... and to hopefully get ideas on where to assign photographers on race day. I also took some photographs along the way.

Today's post features pictures from the various starts on Saturday ... and from the very short loop that runners take on an asphalt trail in the open area of Sodalis. The loop begins right off the start line, before runners proceed across an earthen dam then enter the park's wooded area to complete the first of 18 legs of the race.

Above: At 5:55 a.m., the ultramarathoners were already on the course for nearly an hour, and while some daylight was evident, sunrise still wouldn't arrive for another 20 minutes. Race organizers kept the car headlights pointed at the start line.

Above: Because of the staggered starts, race committee member John Sparzo (left) had to walk through instructions multiple times, once for each new group approaching the start line. Just like how all team members are invited to join their last runner cross the finish line at the end of the race, John told runners at the start that team members were welcome to join their Leg 1 runners jog along the short loop off the start line in Sodalis. 

Above: Diane Kaiser (left) and Kylie Kult joined their Chicks with Kicks first-leg runner, Kristi Waddell, for the ceremonial short loop off the start line.

Above: Hendricks Power Cooperative team's first leg runner, Kim Monroe (12901), is joined by teammates off the start.

Two area radio stations did live broadcasts from the parks along the course  Saturday. At Sodalis Nature Park, Randall Wayne (right) of WCBK in Martinsville interviewed the Parks Department's William Roche during one of the lulls between the interval starts. Below, Wayne talked to Logan Kuhne of the team "5 More Muffin Men ... and an Old Guy." Logan was the "old guy" on the team, by the way, and he made everyone aware of it because it said so on the back of that green shirt. Later in the race, Shane Ray and Rob Kendall of XBR radio in Brownsburg would broadcast live segments from the shade of a tree near the gazebos in Williams Park, Brownsburg.

Above: "Old Guy" Kuhne and the rest of "5 More Muffin Men ... and an Old Guy" head out for the ceremonial loop, after which the team's first-leg runner -- Levi Lewis, who leads the pack -- would continue on the course.

Above: Several teams are represented on the start line here. 

Above: There was even one start at which a solitary runner took off. This is the Muffin Men's Taylor Secrest, who had the penultimate start at 9 a.m.

Above: Preparing to break off the line for the last start, at 9:30 a.m., were Billy McManus (left), a member of the North Salem State Bank 2 team entered in the men's division, and Ryan Horner, a member of the North Salem State Bank 1 team, the only entry in the college division. McManus' team would not only win the men's division but also compile the fastest time of the day. NSSB2 completed the course in 6 hours, 18:31 minutes, for a clip of 5:50 minutes a mile. Horner's team finished in 6:40.05 (6:09), second fastest of the day.

Above and below: The mood was relaxed before runners hit the start line. Above, members of Team Tenacious -- which would win the Mixed 40+ division -- spoofed things up with some costuming props for a group picture. Team members would don those hats at the exchange stations throughout the course. Below, members of the two North Salem State Bank teams, chilling on the lawn near the start point before their start time.

Above and next four below: Teams doing the circular "parade" loop off the start line at Sodalis Nature Park.
 

Above: Horner (left) and McManus, the last two runners to start at Sodalis, also were the last two to circle the "parade" loop and head into the wooded area of Leg 1.

Park2Park Relay 2012, Part II: An ultra moment to shine

I was reminded at Saturday's second annual Hendricks County Park2Park Relay how inspiration can hit you in a flash (excuse photography pun), without warning.

On a daylong event like the Park2Park, especially when you're coordinating a key aspect of the event as I was doing with the photography coverage on behalf of the Indy Meetup Photo Club, the mind is constantly trying to anticipate. This is on top of pulling back and doing the basic work -- photography. For example, I spent days trying to anticipate the handling of lighting for the 5 a.m. start of the ultramarathon competition, as I outlined in yesterday's post. Still ... despite the best intentions ... I learned a key lesson: If you don't get there early enough, you might not have enough time to set up things to experiment with enough ideas to optimize exposure.

I shrugged off the partial disappointment and returned focus to the rest of the event. Except for the surprisingly large spacing between when runners would show up at relay stations along the 64.5-mile course, things went smoothly and mostly as expected. It wasn't until I was at McCloud Nature Park, the event's terminus this year, that I was hit by the "inspiration" mentioned in the opening paragraph.

I'd already been at McCloud for about an hour and a half, invariably resting, eating/drinking, talking with race organizers and other club members, and taking some shots at the finish line, when I got the idea to explore the course trail within the park. I first headed to familiar terrain -- the elegant rust-colored steel bridge in the west part of the park where a couple of club members and I camped out last year as runners crossed that bridge on the first leg of their long journey (the course started in McCloud last year; the race organizers flipped it around this year and made McCloud the finish point). We had some dramatic morning light to make beautiful pictures last year; this year, runners were crossing the bridge in the early afternoon, not ideal lighting for pictures.

Still, gazing at the bridge is when the seed of inspiration was planted, though the lightning still would not strike until about a little later. I was on a mound overlooking the bridge, trying to shoot runners as I saw them crossing the bridge to my right in the early portion of this 3.1-mile leg and also coming at me from the south, a point on the course about three-quarters of a mile after the bridge cross for them. On the bridge, I saw Michael Scott, one of six men competing in the new ultramarathon division (individuals who run a 52-mile course across the county). I'd come across Scott earlier in the day about midway through the full course and took pictures of him smiling as he jogged toward me. I didn't realize it until that night, at home processing my pictures after the shoot, that I also had photographed him some 10 hours earlier in the parking lot of Sodalis Nature Park near Plainfield, this year's start point.

On the bridge at McCloud, Scott lifted up his arms and flashed thumbs up (see photo at the top, leading off this post), perhaps to acknowledge that the remaining 3 miles ahead of him was a pittance compared to the 49 he'd already logged. I took a couple of pictures of him on the bridge. Then I got to thinking that I never explored much else of the course trail within McCloud last year, so ... I followed the course from the point where I had been standing when I photographed Scott on the bridge -- roughly, the final 2 miles. The path -- which was grass-covered at that point -- took me to the ravine that the bridge spans to the south. I came across few runners in my journey after this, maybe a half-dozen altogether. But one of those turned out to be Scott, who reappeared as I was concentrating on photographing one of several birdhouses I came across on the path, which at that point parallels Big Walnut Creek. I had enough time to turn and photograph him coming toward me. He acknowledged my presence and offered a warm smile, and I told him that I thought he was looking good.

That's when the idea bolt struck. I decided that not only was I going to walk the final section of the course, but I was going to stay on Scott's trail -- at a distance -- as best as I could. I wanted to document in photos, the final stretch of an ultramarathon runner. After passing me near the birdhouse, Scott helped me accomplish that task a bit; he stopped jogging and began to walk, thinking I was out of his sight. I'm sure all the ultra runners stopped to walk portions of the course, so I understood that doing so was no embarrassment. I tried to remain at a distance because I didn't want to make him feel like he had to return to jogging because someone was watching. But, alas, there was a hairpin turn down a steep hill in a wooded section, a turn I didn't know was coming. It gave him an angle to see me, so ... he returned to his jog, and I decided to jog as well to keep up.

When we emerged from the woods back onto a grass portion of the path, he came upon two men who apparently had been looking for him. They offered Scott words of encouragement and joined him on the run the rest of the way. The separation between us would grow every time I stopped to take a photograph, and I worried I'd get too far behind to get a good shot of Scott crossing the finish line. So my "jogging" turned to a healthy run for about a quarter- to a half-mile, but I was up to the task. I was really excited.

When Scott emerged into the open area and the finish line in sight, there was a team of runners walking toward us, heading to plant a tree near one of the gravel parking lots. (Planting trees is an honor given to all teams who win the divisions they compete in for the relay). I recognized the team, Team Tenacious, from last year, when it also had won its division and planted a tree along the pond at Sodalis Nature Park.

Scott was only about 100 meters or so from the finish line when I crouched to try and track his final steps. That's when a passerby on a cellphone lazily walked almost right in front of me. I tried to veer left or right, but there were obstacles -- ironically, just at that point -- in either direction. I had to stop. By the time the unsuspecting cellphone user was out of my way, Scott was about 10 feet in front of the finish chute. I got off a couple pictures, but not the ones I'd been hoping for. I also photographed him talking to someone immediately afterward. I learned later that night that Scott was the third of the six ultramarathoners to cross the finish line. He completed the 52-mile course in 11 hours, 39.05 seconds, or a pace of 10:45 minutes per mile. Winning the ultra competition was Keith Gropple, who crossed the line in 10:21.28 (a 9.34 pace). Full results of the relay can be found at the Park2Park website.

Nicely done, Michael ... and all the ultramarathoners.

Next post: The start line at Sodalis Nature Park.

Above: I didn't realize it when I took this picture at 4:50 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Sodalis Nature Park, 10 minutes before the start of the ultramarathon competition, but the man on the far right -- Michael Scott -- would inspire me, about 11 hours later, to document in pictures the final 2 miles of his 52-mile journey in the ultramarathon competition of the second annual Hendricks County Park2Park Relay.

Above: Michael smiling as he approaches me, well into his ultramarathon odyssey. I know it was definitely between Blanton Woods in Danville and the relay station ending Leg 15 several miles east of North Salem. If I had to guess, I think it was on North County Road 350 West, right before runners turned left (west) to approach the Leg 15 relay station. But I'm not sure.

Above: I was standing on the gravel path you see, a little to the left of this bridge overlook vantage point, when I saw Michael cross the bridge in McCloud.

 

Above: Looking down from the bridge into the ravine ... and the path that, much farther down, runners would pass over in the final 2 miles of their journey to the finish line. 

Above and below: Michael came past me a final time at a point where, moments before I noticed him coming at me, I'd been photographing a birdhouse along Big Walnut Creek. He was about a mile from the finish. I allowed him to jog a very short ways before I turned and captured the photo below from behind, just before he would make a right turn and slip out of my sight. He then slowed down and began to walk. I began to follow him from a distance.

 

Above: These two men backtracked the course from the finish line, looking for Michael. The finish line announcer might have broadcast Michael's presence in the park, which he had been doing for many of the runners; ham radio operators at the runners' park entry point on the northwest side of McCloud no doubt were relaying that information to the finish line. This photo was taken after Michael had seen me following him when he came upon the hairpin turn in the woods, so he had been back in jog mode when the men found him and accompanied him the rest of the way.

Above: The three amigos, as they climbed an incline that would emerge into the park's main open area near the Nature Center. 

Above: The three amigos run past the circular ground openings where division-winning teams would plant trees. Members of one of those teams, Team Tenacious, which won the Mixed 40+ division, can be seen in the background (blue jersies) walking toward the area to do their ceremonial planting.

Above: Michael acknowledges applause and well-wishers shortly before veering left to approach the finish line chute.

Above: The journey is over for Michael Scott; a nice-sized group of spectators acknowledges his accomplishment. 

Above: Michael conversing with someone moments after he put on his finishing medal.